2 Civil War soldiers receive the Medal of Honor for “Great Locomotive Chase”

Two Ohio soldiers who stole a Confederate train and left a 200-mile trail of destruction through the South will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on Wednesday. Privates Philip G. Shadrach and George D. Wilson were two members of a group of Union soldiers who were captured and executed after taking part in a daring Civil War mission behind enemy lines that became known as the “Great Locomotive Chase.”

The men were part of a secret team sent to disrupt the Confederacy’s railroad system in April 1862. At the time, they were assigned to the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Wilson and Shadrach both distinguished themselves above and beyond the call of duty, as reflected in their Medal of Honor awards. The Medal of Honor also recognizes their “gallant acts in close contact with the enemy.”

Twenty-two Union soldiers and two civilians led by James J. Andrews, a Kentucky spy, launched an attack to destroy Confederate railroads and telegraph lines from Georgia to Tennessee. Their bold plan called for them to advance hundreds of miles into Confederate territory to meet outside Marietta, Georgia, and hijack a locomotive they named the “General.” They then headed toward Chattanooga, tearing up tracks, destroying bridges, and cutting telegraph lines for some 200 miles.

The group, which became known as Andrew’s Raiders, was forced to stop on the single-track railroad because of oncoming trains and eventually had to flee from their pursuers about 18 miles from Chattanooga. Within 12 days they were all captured. On June 18, 1862, Wilson and Shadrach were among the seven raiders hanged as spies. Andrews was hanged separately 11 days earlier.

Subscribe to Task & Purpose today. Get the latest military and culture news delivered daily to your inbox.

Wilson’s great-great-granddaughter Theresa Chandler told reporters Tuesday that she wished young Americans could learn more about what Andrews’ attackers went through.

Chandler’s voice broke as she spoke of her great-great-grandfather’s last words before his execution being that he was willing to fight for his country and that he bore no resentment toward the Southerners.

“I’m sorry to be so emotional, but it touches me deeply,” Chandler said at a media roundtable.

Nineteen of the 22 Union soldiers who took part in the attack were the first U.S. soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor, said Brad Quinlin, a historian from Georgia. One soldier declined the award when it was offered to him because he was captured early in the operation.

Shadrach and Wilson were involved in every aspect of the mission, Quinlin told Task & Purpose. It’s unclear why they weren’t given the Medal of Honor at the beginning like the other soldiers who took part in the operation, he said.

The Civil War was quite chaotic at the time, he said. Some of the attackers escaped and the rest were later released in a prisoner exchange. The 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment suffered such heavy losses at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863 that it was incorporated into another unit and many of the regiment’s original officers were promoted and assigned elsewhere.

“So for a long time there was just nobody there to advocate for them,” Quinlin said. “These things happen, and after the war there was such chaos – it took until the 1880s for families to find out what had happened to their loved ones during the war. So you can imagine: These two men were simply overlooked.”

In 2012, Quinlin was asked by a relative of Shadrach to help award both men the Medal of Honor. Over the next 12 years, Quinlin submitted 26 award packages until recently hearing from the White House that the two men would finally be honored for their heroism, 162 years after their deaths.

After so many years, the award represents a solution for the families of Wilson and Shadrach, Quinlin said.

“I volunteer at the Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Chattanooga,” Quinlin said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood in front of those graves and the graves of their comrades and seen the Medal of Honor insignia on the other Union soldiers, but not on the graves of Philip and George. It’s been a process. New friendships have been formed – lifelong friendships with the families. And yesterday, when we met for interviews with the press, there were many tears as we all realized that these two men will stand next to their comrades as Medal of Honor recipients this afternoon at 4:45 p.m. in the White House.”

The latest on Task & Purpose